Letters to the Editor, Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017

Hollywood isn’t the only progressive bastion dealing with a crisis of bad behavior. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) recently suspended executive vice president and Fight for $15 minimum wage architect Scott Courtney for inappropriate behavior with female employees. Courtney has subsequently resigned.

Courtney allegedly had a pattern a pattern of dating subordinates in return for promotions. Like Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, Courtney’s transgressions were an “open secret” among women who worked with him. And like Weinstein, complaints about Courtney’s wrongdoings were ignored.

The allegations are especially embarrassing for the SEIU, which claims restaurants should be unionized partially because of supposed pervasive sexual harassment in the workplace. Several SEIU members admitted to the media that the values the union practices are opposite to the ones it preaches.

The SEIU should get its own house in order before preaching moral superiority to the rest of us.

Jordan Bruneau, Washington, D.C.

Senior research analyst, Employment Policies Institute

Nationalism not a bad thing

I was deeply moved by an article that appeared in the Naples Daily News this summer and can't get it out of my mind.

Written by a reporter from either The Associated Press or USA TODAY, it covered Vice President Mike Pence's visit to Venezuela. The very last paragraph of the article mentioned that there was a man in the crowd who carried a sign that read: "Make Venezuela Great Again."

How very sad. It broke my heart, wondering how much hope those repressed people have under the regime of President Nicholas Maduro, successor to former socialist dictator Hugo Chavez. He turned the country from a democracy to a dictatorship, from oil riches to economic collapse and widespread poverty.

What a dramatic contrast to our situation in the USA. President Donald Trump may be unorthodox and rough at the edges, but he truly loves this country and is working tirelessly to stop the decline and restore its greatness. Yet, he is being criticized for his nationalism.

As Pence explained to Venezuelans, "America first does not mean America alone."

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Shortly after Pence's visit, Trump signed an executive order imposing more sanctions on Venezuela.

Diane Corcelli, Bonita Springs

Collier County unaffordable to workers

Let them eat cake! One has to hear this when viewing what's happening in Collier County.

Allow me to explain: Affordable housing is still being kicked down the road. An ATV park, promised and paid for, kicked down the road. No second ambulance on Marco Island. A public golf course? Nope, that may impact private clubs' bottom line. Why would one spend money on a social membership when there is a nice public course here?

Do I think these things are related? Yes, yes, I do. Remember, educating our children, enforcing our laws, and protecting our properties from fire or theft are not high-paying careers. Look at what it takes to rent a two-bedroom apartment here.

Well, if the choice is to "serve" your community, yet you can't afford to live in that community, something is wrong. Let them eat cake?

Robert Jenkins, Naples

Waiting for ‘season’s’ end

I've been living in Florida for seven years and I've often wondered when the “season” started.

Was it the full carts coming out of Costco or the boxes of booze from Total Wine? Perhaps it was the additional cars on the road without working blinkers or the car haulers, was that it? Or was it that I had to get to Bonefish Grill at 4 p.m. to get dinner.

But finally, this year, it became painfully apparent. This was the year that President Donald Trump turned America into a clown circus. The season began with many more strange letters to the Naples Daily News editor. The Trump lemmings from the rusted Corn Belt had migrated to Southwest Florida. Devoid of any logic, reason or reality, they write vapid letters, clinging to their Bibles and bump stocks.

I suspect many just suffer from bovine spongiform encephalopathy. There's little hope for them, so I'll just wait until they retreat to the north when the snow begins to melt again.

Laurence Jacks, Estero

Thankful for great neighbors

As we snowbirds arrive in Southwest Florida, we can look around at some of the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. We have much to be thankful for, especially great neighbors who checked on our places, cleaned out refrigerators, cleared driveways, sent pictures to reassure us.

Each day we hear more stories of what it was like to live through it and then face days and weeks without power in the heat. We appreciate the quick response of first responders who canvassed neighborhoods shortly after the storm and those who were forced to work many overtime hours at hospitals, nursing homes, and police and fire departments because they couldn't get home or be replaced.

We are very lucky to have such wonderful neighbors who took over, got the job done, and I never heard any whining. Thank you!

Peggy Egelus, Naples

Referees should protest protesters

Being a Vietnam War combat veteran, it tears at my core to see the disrespectful, overpaid pansies taking a knee during the national anthem.

Since the NFL commissioner will not enforce the NFL’s own rule as it relates to the national anthem, I call upon the referees to stand up and be counted. When they see the American flag and national anthem being disrespected according to their own rules and as enforcers of the rules, I encourage them, after the national anthem is finished, to walk off the field and leave the disrespectful teams to figure out how to proceed. I call upon the NFL referees to put a stop to this nonsense, walk off, and stand up for our country and flag.

God bless America and our fallen heroes who gave all for the red, white and blue.

John Blatner, Ave Maria

Tranquility would not result

"Is it better to remain silent and thought a fool or to speak out and remove all doubt?"

Restore tranquility? I certainly hope Kenneth Carson, in his Oct. 22 letter, was being facetious in his diatribe about "at risk by simply living in the US, or a 'Gestapo-like' police force." If citizens don't turn in their weapons, they would be subject to "arrest and imprisonment for 10 years without parole." And if citizens refuse to surrender their weapons, this "police force would have the 'power to neutralize such attempts!'" And the American judicial system would be "set aside in the interest of domestic tranquility."

When was the U.S. ever tranquil? Shades of 1939 Germany. A joke, right?

If it's not a joke, I suggest Carson open (and read) a history book, read the Constitution and be very thankful that he lives in a free society. I am quite confident that if there was an attempt to put any of his suggestions into effect the result would not be tranquility.

I, for one, have seen enough, but apparently, our junior senator, Marco Rubio, has not, according to an Oct. 26 article.

President Donald Trump has insulted our friends as well as our enemies around the world (except Russia), threatened North Korea with "fire and fury," picked fights with the widows and parents of fallen soldiers, withdrawn from the Paris climate agreement, threatened withdrawal from the nuclear treaty even though our own State Department has verified Iran's compliance.

He has been unwilling to be part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He’s gone back on promises made to "Dreamers." Trump tried repeatedly to repeal the Affordable Care Act, even if it removes 25 to 30 million people from having health insurance and costs everybody more. And then there is the stupid $20 billion dollar wall that Mexico will not pay for.

I am not even going to mention the harm to the environment or individuals’ rights when pitted against the financial industry.

Oh, and just to mention one more slightly significant thing with respect to the leader of the free world: He doesn’t tell the truth an average of five times a day and hasn't since day one. You do the math.

Rubio's only concern is "passing a tax-cut package." According to Rubio, "the president has a different way of expressing himself ...."

If Rubio really believes that the chaos, turmoil, degradation and insult that has streamed from this administration since Inauguration Day is just the president's way of expressing himself, he is either just another spineless politician unwilling to confront a clear and present danger, or he is blind to it and therefore must share the same character flaws which make its presence a danger in the first place.

Philip Kingston, Naples

Hurricane’s message clear

Mother Nature certainly sent a loud, clear message to us, when she sent Hurricane Irma to Southwest Florida. It should be a wake-up call to all of us, especially our elected officials.

The destruction was mind-boggling and it will take many more months for all of us to return to normalcy. It is time for all of us to stop and take inventory of just how much more development our region can sustain. Has anyone noticed we are sitting at sea level? That means our water table is high and flooding is inevitable when you keep displacing the water table by putting underground parking in buildings or boring into the water table over and over again. Water has to go somewhere.

Our power grid is old, we had water measured in feet, not inches, and some areas had sewage floating. We were told to stop using water because there were sewerage problems.

I truly believe that until we assess all infrastructure issues -- water, power, transportation and density -- we need to go slowly in granting more permits for construction.

Are there plans to upgrade the power grid, build a desalination plant, increase public transportation, expand sewer filtration systems and, most of all, evaluate what the quality of life, here in paradise could be like 20 years from now, if we continue to assault Mother Nature with more paving, more cars, more demand for water, etc.?

I think Irma was her way of saying, "I just can't take much more." And in 20 years, when she sends us another Irma or worse, will someone be writing a story entitled "Paradise No More"?

Michelle Flaherty, Naples

Life in prison more appropriate

These were my thoughts prior to the sentencing of Mesac Damas:

Damas was found guilty by the court of six counts of first-degree murder involving the deaths of his wife and five young children in Naples.

Circuit Judge Christine Greider had the unenviable position of giving Damas a death sentence, something that has not happened in Collier County since 1996.

The testimony suggested that Damas might be schizophrenic. If Damas is mentally ill, then he should not be condemned to die. If, however, Damas’ mental faculties were and are reasonably sound, then he is simply an evil disgrace of a human being – nothing more.

Regardless of whether Damas is insane, who are we as a society to kill a man unless it is in self-defense or in the defense of another? Stooping to the level of a murderer is inherently uncivilized, hypocritical and immoral. Moreover, the family of the victims and the people of Florida deserve better than to rehash the crimes as Damas’ appeals will take years and cost taxpayers a small fortune.

Demas states that he wants death. Why should he get what he wants? Life in prison, isolated from the general inmate population, is a terrible life – an appropriate sentence for a child killer.

Richard W. Lavariere, Naples

New Trump slogans proposed

President Donald Trump has already started his re-election campaign. His old motto was “Make America Great Again.” He needs a new one. Here are some possibilities:

+“Make America More Ignorant Again.” Trump’s proposed budget (unlikely to be enacted) makes devastating cuts to federal science funding. The budget would cut funding for the National Institutes of Health by 28 percent. The Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development would be cut by 50 percent. It would eliminate the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency and cut 20 percent from the department’s Office of Science. It would eliminate the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Sea Grant program, which supports 33 U.S. colleges that conduct research (Nature journal, March 16). It also cuts other scientific programs.

+”Make America Poorer Again.” Trump says the Affordable Care Act is failing. He is trying to make that true. He ended subsidies to insurance companies that are passed through to low-income individuals and households in premium reductions. He wants to allow substandard policies. The Alliance of Community Health Plans said the Trump plan “would draw younger and healthier people away from the exchanges and drive additional plans out of the market.”

We need to resist damage to our country.

Aaron Knott, Naples

Failing to do their duty

The single most important duty an elected city council member has is to assure that the city has evaluated and hired the best possible candidate for its city manager -- its chief operating officer.

After an extensive and costly executive search process, Marco Island's search firm presented the City Council on Oct. 11 with seven candidates for the council to debate and decide who should be selected for the final interview process. Five of the city council members did their homework and performed their duty professionally and effectively. They each gave a well-researched analysis of each of the candidates.

I was stunned when council members Joe Batte and Bob Brown stated that they had no comments on any of them. Brown, however, committed to voting for the finalists that the majority of council selected and then proceded to vote against the four candidates the majority selected for the final interview process.

The performance, or lack thereof, of Batte and Brown clearly represent nonfeasance of duty; that is, a failure to execute or perform a duty required by their office that results in harm to the city, and are subject to prosecution and/or recall from office. It is clear that the actions of Batte and Brown have injured the city of Marco Island.

We have been without a professional and experienced city manager since February and their failure to act will further harm our city. Let’s hope they see the light and prepare for and are involved in the final selection process on Thursday, Nov. 2.